What is "egoz"

Egoz is a Hebrew word meaning 'nut'. It can refer to several things:

• Egoz (ship) was a Jewish immigrant ship which sank off the coast of Morocco on January 10, 1961.
• The Egoz Reconnaissance Unit ( Yehidath Egoz) is an Israeli guerrilla infantry unit.
• Egoz Valley (Nahal Egoz), see Wadi al-Joz

Egoz (, literally: "Walnut", Originally: “Pisces”) was the name of a ship that carried Jewish emigrants from Morocco to Israel, at a time when the immigration of Moroccan Jews to Israel was illegal. The ship operated undercover, and gained unwished-for fame after sinking on her 13th voyage, which resulted in the loss of 46 lifes, 44 of them immigrants.

The ship had been leased in 1960 by the Mossad and on each of its journeys smuggled between 40 and 50 Jews from Morocco to Gibraltar, from where they would continue on their way to Israel.

On January 10, 1961, on its 13th voyage, the Egoz set sail from the port of Al Hoceima with 44 Jewish immigrants on board. All the immigrants drowned, along with an Israeli radio operator and one of the ship's Spanish crew members. Three other crew members, all Spaniards, were rescued. 22 bodies were recovered and the rest were lost at sea.

After the incident, an agreement was reached, through the mediation of the HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), an American Jewish organization, sanctioning the departure of the Jews of Morocco under certain conditions - including the payment of a ransom fee, and a commitment to take a route that passed through a third country. In the framework of this agreement, by 1964, 80,000 Moroccan Jews left Morocco in Operation Yachin; most of them arrived to Israel.

In December 1992, King Hassan II of Morocco allowed the restitution of the remains of the drowned passengers from the ship Egoz which were reburied on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem.

Even though the ship sank long after the State of the Israel had been established (1948), the victims of the disaster are referred to as “Ma'apilei Egoz”, using the Hebrew term designating illegal immigrants in the pre-state years. The Hebrew date of the event, 23 Tevet, was designated as the official day to commemorate the ship's casualties and the legacy of the immigration of North African Jewry.

Before it sank, the Egoz had transported 334 Jews out of Morocco within a three-month span.